Parents Insights

Left: Nick Richardson, founder, The Insights Family.

SOFT TOYS STILL EVER POPULAR

The Insights Family highlights why it is important for brands to be aware of what types of toys kids are looking for.

It is no secret that toys play a huge role in a child’s life, especially at a young age with the average preschooler in the UK spending one hour and 34 minutes playing with toys per day. Kids are constantly looking for new toys to keep them entertained and happy, but the toy market is highly saturated, and an extremely competitive industry. In order to compete, brands need to be aware of the types of toys that kids want to play with, but also need to understand what both kids and parents want from the toys that they play with. This can be difficult to keep track of as attitudes and behaviour patterns of both kids and parents are constantly evolving. With the Christmas holidays coming up, it is important for brands to be aware of what types of toys kids are looking for.

Since August, Kids Insights data has revealed that preschoolers in the UK are more likely to be interested in and play with soft toys than any other country globally, other than India. Over 43% of UK preschoolers are reporting to play with soft toys the most, overindexing by +35% than the global average at 32%. This is something that has also been growing in popularity within the UK among 3-5 year olds. The popularity of soft toys is on the rise. The Insights Family’s real-time data portal shows an 11% year-on-year increase in soft toys as a toy type played with the most by preschoolers in 2022 compared to 2021 and 2020. However, the toys favoured by those who name soft toys as their favourite differ between boys and girls quite significantly. Our Kids Insights data shows that 3-5 year old boys lean towards LEGO (8.3%), PAW Patrol (8.3%) and Jurassic World (4%), whereas girls aged 3-5 typically lean towards Barbie (10.4%), Peppa Pig (5.3%) and Disney’s Frozen (3.7%). This demonstrates the huge potential for licensed soft toys that is still present this Christmas for brands, and that kids are still looking for toys themed around these powerful and long-standing properties.

INFLUENCERS IN THE MAKING

Further to this, our Kids Insights data over the last six months shows that preschoolers believe they have a strong amount of influence over their parents purchasing decisions when it comes to toys at 89%, whereas our Parents Insights data reveals that parents report this influence to be even stronger at 92%. Although kids have always held a strong amount of influence over the toys that are bought for them by their parents, this influence has been increasing in strength since the beginning of the pandemic as the family unit becomes more democratic, and parents are considering their child more when it comes to household purchases from several different categories.

Additionally, parents are reporting that they want their kids to gain other benefits as well as good entertainment from the toys that they play with. Parents of preschoolers say that they are more likely to buy a toy for their kids if it is affordable and good value for money (20.7%); it can be used time and time again (18.7%); it is something that allows them to play together (13.5%); and that it allows them to role play or pretend (11.6%). This shows how parents are constantly considering more than just entertainment and are also trying to appease themselves as well as their kids when buying on behalf of their kids and the family.

In the current market, it is more difficult than ever to track the attitudes, behaviours and consumption patterns of kids and parents. That is why it is so important for brands to have a complete understanding of their audiences and consider their audience as not only kids or parents, but as a family unit within the ecosystem.

In September, The Insights Family released its inaugural Licensing Report in collaboration with Licensing International. The report looks to explore the opportunities and challenges the licensing industry currently faces, backed up by propriety and real-time data.

To download a free copy of the report, sign up using this link: https://get.theinsightsfamily.com/ licensing2022/